So I find myself in Montmartre more and more often nowadays. When I have a spare hour between whatever I’m coming from and whatever I’m going to, I like to stop in at People’s Drug Store for a bottle.

Like it says on the sign: all of the small bottles are €3 and the large ones are €6, so there’s no reason not to experiment and try new bottles. That Belgian quad is no more expensive than the Sierra Nevada you can get at home.

Though it is nice to be able to get a real American IPA when you want one.

Surrounded by the many music and instrument shops of South Pigalle, and facing onto a sunny square, Kooka Boora is a bustling café serving excellent espresso drinks, filter coffee, fresh-pressed juices, teas, and snacks.

It’s another in the recent spate of Australian coffee shops in the city. Always crowded, the free wifi and trendy location join for outstanding combined work-doing and people-watching.

One of the things I miss most about LA is the wide array of ethnic restaurants available. From Korean to Persian to Ethiopian to Chilean, it’s easy to find solid, authentic, and often cheap eats from all over the world there.

Don’t get me wrong, Paris does have quite a few restaurants specializing in cuisines from other lands, but often (notably as is the case with sushi), it’s mediocre and overpriced. That’s why I love Happy Nouilles so much.

Located near Arts et Métiers, Happy Nouilles is a solid Chinese restaurant that specializes in noodle soups with hand-pulled noodles. I always go for the “Zati,” which has minced pork in a spicy miso broth. It’s one of the spicier things I’ve tried in Paris, with a heat that seems mild at first slurp but slowly builds up until you’re panting by the end of the bowl. This time around I tried it with filaments de ble instead of the hand-pulled lamen. The knife-cut noodles, similar to Korean kal guk soo, were thick and chewy and will be my new go-to.

Les Cocottes is one of those restaurants I’ve been hearing about for ages. Two years ago, when I visited Paris for the first time, a friend of mine in LA who had spent part of his honeymoon here insisted that I try one of Christian Constant’s restaurants, as he had had his favorite meal of his entire trip at Le Violon d’Ingres.

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to visit this place, but what better way to visit than with resident expert, Carin? I think she goes to Les Cocottes as often as I go to Frenchie bar à vins, which is kind of saying a lot.

Ravioles de langoustines, mousseline d’artichauts

I started with the langoustine ravioli, which has been lauded far and wide in the Paris blog scene as the entrèe to get, and not without cause. The shellfish was as tender and sweet as any I’ve had, matched perfectly with the rich artichoke mousseline. And hiding the unattractively-colored mousseline under a blanket of creamy foam? Clever trick, that.

All of the dishes here — even the desserts — come in cast-iron Staub cocottes and pans, hence the name. It’s a cute concept, even though lots of these dishes were clearly not actually cooked in the cocottes in which they are served.

Vivant is another contender in the list of modern bistros with spin-off wine bars in Paris (see: Frenchie, Verjus, Septime), and they’re doing it right. I went with lunch on a rare sunny day with A, who can eat with the best of them.

Risotto / encre de seiche

Gnocchi / ragout de canard

Both of our entrées were, surprisingly, Italian-themed and, less surprisingly, amazing. I dream about that gnocchi. Cloud-like pillows in a rich duck sauce, it blew the gnocchi I had at Le 6 Paul Bert the night before out of the water.